What Love Really Means
by WhiteRosePlanter
Summary: A full story for the chapter Broken Wings, from the Story: A Meadow of White Roses. Ships: [Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Penny Polendina], [Yang Xiao-Long, Blake Belladonna], [Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos], [Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren], [Coco Adel, Velvet Scarlentina], & [Neo, Roman Torchwick]. However, I can't tag everyone.
1. Prologue

Welcome to the intro page of the new story! This isn't chapter one, nor is it a prologue. Instead, this is the summary of the plot's direction, so you can know if you want to follow it or not.

This is a special case. Our story here will be only fourteen(14) or so chapters long, but it is special for a different reason. I have stolen this idea! Perhaps some of you have read the stories of **ReticentNinja** ? Specifically, the most recent addition to the one-shot series: **A Meadow of White Roses**, the chapter titled **Broken Wings**. That. That's what I'm turning into a full story. Yes, I did ask if I could, and no; it won't be a perfect adaptation. But, what it will be is this: a very unique romance with nothing to get in the way of two people falling in love.

Here's my little twist: Weiss takes the most cynical viewpoint of love, and Ruby has to prove her wrong with her unique brand of romance: Asexual romance. (And for those of you who want to know, yes: Asexuals can have romantic feelings, and sometimes even have sexual events. They are asexual because they don't feel sexual attraction, not because it doesn't feel good to them. Weiss will learn this, as well as some other things about Ruby's orientation in this AU.)

I want to show everyone not just a heart-warming tale, but also open some eyes to the world of attraction. There are five kinds I know of, and each one will be very important going forward. Hope to hear from you soon!

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Teaser:

Pressing her pillow around her ears, Weiss tried to block out the shouting from downstairs. She'd tried intervening before, and knew never to make that mistake again. Rising to point out her parent's flaws, making sound arguments against them? Suicide in the household. Her father would yell at her, sometimes threaten to hit her, and more than once had threatened to have her thrown out and abandoned if she didn't shut up. But the more deadly return was always when he yelled back. He'd hit her with her failings, and berate her for everything he could, while she had to remain silent, not daring to cry.

Her father claimed she was able to fix herself, to rewire her brain into a more functional state. He claimed she was just lazy when she couldn't do something or fell short of the impossible standards she set for herself. She'd once told him how lazy his comment was when he'd claimed her depression and Asperger's were simply excuses for her slip ups and that she couldn't use them for everything. Weiss hadn't even mentioned either, while he'd been lecturing her for the two or so hours she'd been standing in her parent's doorway, and when he'd said it, she'd snapped.

Well, Jacques had a tendency to snap back. His voice went from angry to yelling, and he decided to get close. He didn't have to hit her anymore, he just had to get within arms' reach and stare at her. She didn't like being touched, and when someone stood in front of her that close, she felt trapped and had to fight back panic. Of course, while there were walls to her left and right, the hallway behind her was free. That made it worse. She "hadn't been excused yet," and so had to continue standing in the doorway, unable to shift her feet or lean against the door frame. No, she had to stand, straight and tall, and look her father in the eye, rather than at the floor where she liked to gaze.

Trapped, between her father, the emptiness behind her that she wasn't allowed to retreat into, and the edges of a doorway. How she'd wished she could have run. Now, she was trapped again. Yelling downstairs, walls all around, and no comfort from the pillow around her. She simply had to ride out the sound, counting the seconds as she tried to keep her mind occupied. It wasn't easy, with thoughts coming too quickly and lasting to long to keep on track for long, but she'd learned how over the years.

When the voices fell quiet, Weiss crawled into bed, and pulled the long, brown body-pillow close, trying to hold it like someone who cared. It didn't hug back, and Weiss simply had to squeeze the soft object as she tried to sleep, a slight dampness spreading across the fabric as she contemplated what sleep would bring, and then tomorrow. It was the first day of the second trimester, and she didn't have any reason to hope she'd make it to number three before she found a very permanent escape.

She'd stopped herself before, using her pride, willpower, and fear of the unknown to keep herself from taking what her parents both agreed was "the coward's way out", but now... now she wasn't sure it mattered. Someone important had said, when asked what happened when someone died, that people who loved the person while they were alive would miss them. Weiss doubted anyone would miss her. Love wasn't real, anyways.


	2. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the first chapter of What Love Really Means. We're going to be bouncing around perspectives a lot more than in my other stories, so bear with me. As a bit of a setter, for all of you who want to know, I'm going to be jumping around in time from the short which I'm basing this story around (A Meadow of White Roses: Broken Wings, written by ReticentNinja). We'll be going a good way in both directions (time wise), so please send in your thoughts, ideas, and critiques.**

**This will be a somewhat intensely emotional story, so please do be advised.**

**This is also going to be my first Frozen Gears, Dolts and Bolts, or Weiss-Penny-Ruby story, so please give me your thoughts. I hope this to be the first bridge between the White Roses and the Nuts and Dolts sides of the shipping war.**

**However, this also starts my WhiteRose week stories. Today's topic is: "love at first sight." So, let's see how much hate I get, and how much love. Without further ado…**

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**(Present Day. The Night of the Argument.)**

Yang heard a small knock on her door, and she looked up from her bed to see it crack open and reveal her younger sister. Ruby waved a hand to indicate she was heading out. Being the older sister she was, Yang decided to figure out why Ruby was leaving the house at this time of night.

"Where are you off to?" She whispered, careful not to disturb the five other people in the house, most of whom would be asleep.

"Weiss says she needs me."

It was a simple answer, and one that provoked a variety of responses in Yang's mind. Weiss, Miss Perfect, was actually asking for help? If something had happened that meant she was willing to openly ask for Ruby's presence, then Yang wouldn't begrudge sending even the prissy Weiss her best friend.

"Alright, be home soon, okay?"

Ruby nodded and closed the door, leaving Yang with her thoughts and a far-too intelligent noirette to wait for her return.

"Do you think we should go with?" Came a sleepy voice from behind her.

Yang started slightly, having thought Blake was asleep already. She turned over, careful to keep the sheets covering her while not taking them away from her partner. It was rather difficult to do, having only one arm currently, but for the sake of her best friend's modesty, she managed.

"Probably not. If Ruby didn't ask, it's probably because she had a reason. Anyways, I thought you were already asleep?"

"Not quite. My endurance hasn't been that low for a while now."

Yang grinned in the dark, leaning forward and pressing the tip of her nose against Blake's.

"Are you saying you need another round?"

The amber eyes only a few inches from her own opened and gave her a baleful look.

"Yang, you need to stop worrying. Ruby's going to be fine."

Pulling back, Yang frowned and started to turn away. She hated that Blake thought they only ever had sex when she was stressed and needed a release. She hated herself even more for that being the truth. She turned to face back towards the door before answering.

"Maybe I don't want to stop worrying. Maybe I don't want to spend my life lying to everyone I love."

A pair of arms wrapped around Yang's midsection, followed by a cool chin resting on her shoulder.

"Why don't you tell me what you've been lying about, and maybe help you relax a little more healthily? I'd like to sleep tonight, rather than tomorrow morning, honestly."

Yang sighed and tried to vocalize her worries.

"I don't like Ruby hanging around that Schnee Girl. She's not exactly a good influence, and I worry that they're gonna get hurt. Not to mention how she's affecting her already. Ruby hasn't hung out with or had lunch with Penny in months."

Blake's arms tightened slightly, and she began to whisper into Yang's ear, making her shiver slightly.

"First of all, why don't you ever call her Weiss? She goes through stuff at home, she doesn't need to be mocked behind her back too. Secondly, are you insinuating that Weiss is stealing Ruby away from Penny? They're pretty friendly too. I think you're just projecting your feelings onto them, since Ruby's not exactly a baby anymore."

"I guess. But my point still stands. Neither of them are really that involved in backing Rubes up."

"Maybe they're more invested than you think."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. Now, who else have you been lying to? Your parents? I'm pretty sure you already told them about us, so unless you've been doing something else-"

"It's not them. It's… you."

Blake pulled back a little bit, her hands moving from Yang's stomach to her hips as she slid away.

"Me? But you said…"

A few moments passed while Blake processed Yang's words.

"I thought you said you didn't want to make anything special out of this?"

"I- I didn't want to lose you. I couldn't risk losing you as my best friend for the sake of some silly crush."

"So it went away?"

"No, it got worse. I think I'm falling too far. I might do something stupid soon."

"It wouldn't be a change of pace if you did. Your reasoning alone for all this proves that."

"How do you mean?"

"You don't want to risk losing your best friend if you scare her off by asking her out, so instead you ask her to sleep with you as a "friend with benefits"? It's a terrible plan."

"Sorry."

"For?"

"For being stupid. And… for lying to you about my feelings."

"Well then, you'd better ask me properly, or I might have to stop coming across the hall."

"Properly?"

"I don't like people who cheat, Yang. And if you want me to be your girlfriend, then that means you like me romantically. That means, as long as we're sleeping together like this, then you're cheating on me, with me."

While Yang's brain struggled to figure out how Blake's reasoning worked, the cool arms of her bedmate again encircled her, and a gentle kiss was pressed to the back of her neck.

"R-right. Um."

Turning over in her best friend's arms, Yang came back to facing Blake, their noses again touching.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"Mhm."

Yang smiled, and gently leaned her forehead against Blake's.

"Do you want to kiss me?" Came a whisper from the darkness.

"Yeah."

"Then you'd better be gentle. I had this friend who I slept with, and whenever we kissed it was all lust. I'd like ours to have a little more to them."

"That's mean. They weren't just lust…"

"Then prove it."

So, Yang proved it. Then Blake provided a counterpoint. Yang offered a rebuttal, and eventually the two were arguing in silence, using only their lips to show the other their point of view.

Despite how much Yang wanted to go further with her new girlfriend, a certain buzzing from her bedside pulled the blonde out from her immersion. Blake giggled and, being the one now on the side of the phone, grabbed the buzzing mobile to offer to Yang.

"Thank you, darling."

"Don't push it."

Yang smiled and simply unlocked the device, looking into her messages with squinted eyes. The screen was very bright, even with the light turned to the lowest setting, but she managed to make out the words of the text message.

"Oh no…" Yang's voice changed from playful and giddy to one of horror and pity.

"What?"

"Sounds like the big one hit. Papa Schnee just left. He's going to file for divorce."

"Shit."

Everyone in the Remnant Squad knew that Jacques leaving was about the best thing that could happen to the Schnee family, but at the same time they knew that it would still absolutely devastate Weiss even more than she already was.

"Ruby's trying to patch up Ice- I mean… Weiss, as best she can. They're on a walk, and she's gonna bring her over for the night."

Yang sent Ruby a small encouraging note, before shutting down her phone. She didn't know what to say, and evidently neither did Blake. They simply held each other and thought about what was going to happen next, while sleep began to tug them into its embrace as well.

* * *

**(Some Months Earlier)**

Penny's shoulder was cold. It was exactly the right temperature to relax on, so that was precisely what Ruby was doing. Her eyes were closed, her cheek pressed against her best friend/not-quite-girlfriend, and a smile on her face. It was comfortable to nap during lunch, surrounded by her Remnant Squad and with a cold cyborg to snuggle against.

"Hey, it's her. The new girl."

"Hm? Oh yeah. Wow, she's really pale."

""I wonder why?""

Ruby grumbled a bit, not wanting to be disturbed by her friends right now. Her eye cracked open and she meant to glare at the perpetrators. Based on the voices, they were Yang, Nora, and Neo. Of course, it might have been Yang speaking twice, but it sounded like she was translating. However, when she looked at them, she caught sight of a much different figure across the lunchroom.

She was pure white, like she was made of snow or light, either an angel or an ice sculpture. Ruby could see a pair of crystalline blue eyes, only barely visible from how far away she was, and a ponytail that was exactly too long to be merely cute and into the realm of beautiful. It couldn't be anyone but Weiss Schnee, the new transfer student.

Why she'd transferred in during the middle of the year, no one knew, but what they did know was that she was a genius, non-sociable, and very pretty. To Ruby, she also had a new fact: she was absolutely gorgeous, and made Ruby's stomach go twisty in the same way Penny made it when she smiled and hugged her goodbye or hello. In other words:

"Uh oh…"

Penny grinned and shifted a bit, nudging Ruby to look at her and sit up.

"That fast? Weiss Schnee got you twisty already? Wow!"

She smiled and pushed Ruby's shoulder playfully.

"She'd better be something if I'm losing you to her."

Ruby blushed and tried to hide her face in her jacket, but it didn't hide the small smattering of laughter.

"Seriously, it's cool. Go meet her, get her in the Squad, and then you can try using your clunky charms to win her over. Worked once, right?"

"Thanks Penny." Came her muffled reply.

Once lunch ended and Ruby re-emerged, she made sure to watch for the white-haired girl, and to build up what little courage she had in such matters. Before the week was out, she would be Weiss' friend, or die trying!

At least, that's what she thought.

* * *

"H-hey."

She didn't stop. No one would be greeting her. Better not to turn and embarrass herself.

"Um, excuse me? You're the new student, right?"

Weiss turned around, confused as to why someone would be saying hello after school hours were over, especially to her. Her gaze was met with a strange looking girl, who must have been a year or two younger than herself. She had black hair, the tips dyed with a crimson that fit with her ratty red jacket and shoelaces. Her face was almost as pale as Weiss' own, but much more lively, especially with the silver eyes that peered out at her from under her wild bangs. All in all, Weiss thought the girl looked rather nice. Not stunning, but not unappealing.

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, good. Um… I'm Ruby."

"Weiss."

"That's a cool name!"

"So I have heard."

Ruby seemed confused. Her answers were so short, as if each one was supposed to end the conversation, as she intended them to be. The girl's mind must be wondering: Why was Weiss so cold?

"So um… I saw you at lunch and… I really want to be friends with you. Is that okay to ask?"

That threw Weiss for a bit of a loop. She had expected… well she hadn't expected anything, but that was certainly lower on the list of things she would have expected.

"I'm sorry? Friends?"

She'd never had very many friends. Certainly, no one had ever just asked her so directly.

"Yeah. I guess you're not interested though. I mean… you're probably really popular."

"Surprisingly, no. I haven't been much of a socialite here."

"A wha-?"

"I haven't made any friends or talked to very many people."

"Oh! So… yes?"

Weiss sighed and ran her fingers through her bangs for a moment before shrugging.

"Sure. We can be friends."

"Great! Here, have my number. We can text and you can meet the Squad tomorrow!"

"I'm sorry, the what?"

But Ruby had already shoved a small slip of paper into her cold fingers and ran off.

"See you later Weiss!"

"Wait!" But she was already out of earshot. "Strange girl. I suppose I'll be seeing more of her."

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**And there we are! Tomorrow will be featuring on Curse of the Soul for Beacon Days/School. Hope you're all doing okay. Love you all!**


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